Wood catches Henderson cold to light Forest's fire

Chris Wood is keeping some good company these days. His strike midway through the second half, which brought Nottingham Forest their first home win of the season, means that only Erling Haaland and Cole Palmer have scored more than the 16 Premier League goals he has plundered since Nuno Espírito Santo took charge at the City Ground just before last Christmas.

- Peter Lansley

The New Zealand forward will be 33 by the time Nuno, starting a three-game suspension from the touchline, celebrates his anniversary but celebrating they surely will be. Thanks to Wood's fifth league goal of this season, Forest are nestling happily in eighth place in the table after this hard-earned victory over Crystal Palace.

Wood had already seen three cast-iron chances go begging in the first half before he dispatched the shot that won this game. Dean Henderson, the former Forest goalkeeper, can claim an inadvertent assist with a weak hand to try to stop the goal.

Bryan Roy and Stan Collymore, the 1990s strikers, are the only other players to have reached the 20-goal mark in the Premier League that Wood reached here.

'Premier League, what the fuck?' sang Forest fans before and midway through the first half as their sense of injustice over recent sanctions fuelled their team's energetic start.